"An awesome game, but a bit set apart from the other games"

As I sit here drinking chicken soup and rubbing my fever-throbbing head (I know i shouldn't be writing when i'm sick but, oh well), all i can think about it Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, possibly one of the coolest survival horror games I've ever played. (I've really only played 3 in my entire life, and this is the only one i finished) but RE veterans will probably notice some small details that make this installment of the popular zombie blasting series that make it all feel different than any of the other REsident Evils.

Graphics (System-Wise) 9/10

Though not quite Chrono Cross-worthy, the character models and pre-rendered backgrounds are crisp and barely any pixels can be seen while playing. Nemmy himself looks quite daunting in his three, count 'em, THREE monstrous forms. But I'll get to ol' Nemesis later. The cut-scenes pulsate with quality, but on a system like PS1, they tend to flicker alot. Did i mention that Jill has never looked HOTTER? Okay...yeah. All in all, the graphics are superb

Sound (System-wise) 10/10

From the tortured moaning of a zombie to a rocket that's just been launched right at you, te sound of RE3 is amazing. Although it isn't nearly as creepy as previoius Resident Evils, the use of background noise still sets a mood of foreboding and despair. While you walk the streets of Racoon City, loud moaning, crows crowing, howling dogs, and screams of pain can be heard in the distance. Use of silence in this game is also well-tuned. You may enter a room, then the creepy music goes silent...Will a zombie-dog come bursting through thay window over there? Am I about to be swarmed by blood-thirsty hunters? Either could happen, or neither could happen at all. That is the hallmark of the Resident Evil series audio. Nemesis comes with two of his own songs, one which plays every time the lumbering bastard comes charging at you and one that plays to make u scared snotless...wondering which door or window he's going to jump through. RE3 is an audio-feast

Gameplay (Genre-Wise) 8/10

I'm sure you're tired of waiting to hear about Nemesis by now, so let's start off with his purpose in the game. Nemesis starts out appearing to you as a frankenstein's monster-like figure cloaked in a trench-coat, sometimes toting a badass rocketlauncher, but his true badassness comes out when you're about halfway through the game. You think he's dead, but then he drops down on you with tentacles flailing, with only one purpose in mind:Killing you. Henceforth, there's a reason this fool is always muttering the word ''S.T.A.R.S.'' because you, Jill Valentine, have only recently retired from the special force. and so Nemesis stalks you throughout the city, when you meet him you usually have the option of beating up his mutated ass(not reccomended early in the game) or run away, at which point he often chases you severa screens. At one point, he followed me from a restaurant to a newpaper office, where i ran around him and sped out the door. I though i was safe until he JUMPED FROM THE TOP OF THE FREAKIN' BUILDING ON TOP OF ME! HOLY @#$&! Enough lumbering monster and down to the core gameplay. Because of this game's unique gunpowder mixing feature (you pick up gun powder and put itinto the reloading tool you have from the start and it makes various types of ammo for you) you could finish the game with over a hundred magnum bullets, a rarity in RE games. You get even more ammo in easy mode where you start out with a fully loaded assault rifle instead of a handgun with 15 bullets. After a brief starting scene, you can check the item box for two AR clips, A magnum, 30 magnum bullets (6 already loaded in said magnum) the classic knife(useless), 250 handgun bullets with a fully loaded handgun and a first aid box filled with 3 first aid sprays, as wel as infinite ink ribbon. Could you be more prepared? Now lets just say that, if you wanted to, you COULD go through this game kicking Nemesis' ass every time you saw him, killing every zombie, crow, dog and mutated freak you find, and still have a ton of ammo left to waste. This is one of the things that sets RE3 apart from the other installments, it's more action oriented so you get absurd amounts of ammo. Every Nemesis encounter is considered a boss battle and the only non-Nemmy boss battle you get is against the grave-digger, a huge worm. But enough rambling. How are the controls? Same as always, hard to get used to, but easy to master once you get a basic feel. RE3 also boasts the first ever use of the 180 degree instant turn, perfect for doing the RLH when Nemesis shows up. You can also push zombies away or dodge the attacks of various monsters by holding down the aim button and not shooting, perfect for taking out those blasted dogs. It doesn't always work but it's useful when it does. As far as I know, every RE has a little minigame in it, (Ex: RE2 has the 4th survior) and RE3 has the mercenaries. This entertaining minigame sends you screaming through racoon city with limited amounts of ammo, weapons and healing items to get to where Jill first gets the ability to save. This all sounds fine and dandy but here's the catch, you have a bomb implanted inside you. Each time you kill a monster, whatever it may be, or evade an attack, you get a small time bonus. This minigame boasts a wopping FOUR nemesises to deal with. You get to choose from one of the 3 well known mercenaries in the game, (in order of difficulty) Mikhail, Carlos, and Nicholai. EAch comes armed with different weapons and healing items. AFter you complete your mission, you get cash to buy weapons with infinite ammo, or infinite ammo for all weapons! cool! Gameplay in RE3 is tight but lacks the uter creepiness of the other games, reducing its value as survival horror.

Story (Genre-Wise) 8/10 ''They took everything from me. I won't allow them to win. They can't stop, my last escape...'' Okay, Jilly, we get the point after loading our games for the 50th time, she repeats it every time you load a saved game. I'ts fitting, however as it was originally entitled, ''Bio Hazard 3: The Last Escape'' but i guess capcom figured gamers would get that point so they named it after the king of badass villains, Nemesis. Basically, Nemesis wants all the members of S.T.A.R.S. dead, and mutters the word every 30 seconds when you see him and every time he ''dies''. ''UUUUUUGH. S.T.A.R.S!'' This is your, beleive it or not, LAst escape from Raccoon city, which is now swarming with monsters. The story takes a few twists and turns and makes for an overall enjoyable ride.

Replayability (Genre-Wise) 9/10

With the mercenaries minigame, the ranking system to earn new outfits for Jill by playing through hard mode, and the randomizer capabilities that RE is famous for, you'll want to kick that Nemesis' sorry butt again and again and again...

Overall 8/10

I felt a little empty after finishing this game because it never really scared me, just made me ajump a little when crows came out of windows, late in the game, you'll laugh in Nemesis' face because he's hardly frightening anymore, just cool-lookin'. The gameplay, graphics and sound are all impecibal, and the story made me smile with satisfaction when i reached the end. ''You want S.T.A.R.S.? I'll give you S.T.A.R.S!'' This game is great for a rental, 'cuz it's a bit short for its genre and is good for a buy for those devoted types who want to kill Nemsis with a handgun as well as newbies to the series due to its slightly lower difficulty level.